Survival Guide for the Reincarnated - Chapter 374

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 374
“So?”
“The world belongs to the strong. Since the world was born, that truth has never changed for a single moment. The weak are trampled by the strong, consumed and devoured. That is the way of the world.”
Hyeol Mu clenched his fist.
“We cannot accept that way. So we take revenge. Against the entire world.”
Seol Woon-hwi nodded.
“…You’re nodding?”
“Yes. Your words are not wrong.”
“…What?”
“The world belongs to the strong. That’s the truth.”
Seol Woon-hwi spoke calmly.
“I think the same way. Survival of the fittest, the strong preying upon the weak. That is the Murim and the world.”
Hyeol Mu paused for a moment.
“…Then you understand?”
“I do.”
It was strange. Hyeol Mu could not comprehend this situation itself.
That Seol Woon-hwi, agreeing with our cause…?
But that was all.
Seol Woon-hwi continued.
“The grudge you harbor, the desire for revenge—these things are natural.”
“….”
“However.”
Seol Woon-hwi’s eyes grew cold.
“Revenge against the entire world? That is not revenge.”
“What do you mean.”
“Buddhism speaks of cause and effect.”
Seol Woon-hwi spoke quietly.
“If someone destroyed your clan, that person is the cause, and your revenge is the effect. That is karmic retribution.”
“….”
“But revenge against the entire world? There is no cause and no effect. That is not cause and effect—it is obsession. It is merely madness without even an object to cling to.”
Hyeol Mu gritted his teeth.
“We have justification!!”
Seol Woon-hwi let out a soft laugh.
“Confucianism teaches that even revenge must have justification. Who, what, why. These must be clear for true justification to exist.”
Seol Woon-hwi took a step closer.
“You merely swing your blade at a vague target called ‘the world.’ Do you truly believe that to be justification?”
“We are…!”
“Daoism speaks of the Way.”
“…The Way…?”
“To walk the Way means your direction must be clear. Where you are going, what you are going for.”
My gaze pierced through Hyeol Mu.
“But where does your path lead? You’re merely walking without direction. Can you even call that a path?”
“Shut up… shut up!”
Hyeol Mu cried out.
“We have resolve! Thirty of our comrades died! For them, we will stake our lives on vengeance!”
“Thirty.”
I spoke quietly.
“Can you name all thirty of them?”
“…What…?”
“At least ten—can you tell me how those ten lived, what they wanted, what they liked, what they disliked, or even the name of whoever they sought to avenge? Anything at all?”
“…That is…”
“You can’t.”
I spoke coldly.
“Because they’re merely numbers. Mere tools for justification.”
Hyeol Mu fell silent.
“True resolve means remembering each one individually. Their names, their lives, their deaths. And you must engrave that in your heart and sharpen the blade of vengeance.”
“…”
“My subordinate Han Mu-rin had a clear target. He gathered every scrap of information about those who served that target, and without fail, every moment he slept, he thought of them. Namgung Won Yang trains even now to kill Namgung Ho, the unit leader of the Blood Demon Regiment. Ju So-ah trains to resolve the long-standing wish of the family she once belonged to. But what are you doing right now?”
“That is…”
“You’re merely shouting the number ‘thirty.’ Is that resolve?”
I slowly drew my sword.
“I respect the path a martial artist walks as a martial artist.”
The blade pointed toward Hyeol Mu.
“I don’t distinguish between righteousness and wickedness. If you can stake your life and see it through to the end, even if that path devours people, I acknowledge it.”
“…”
“But you?”
My eyes gleamed coldly.
“No direction, no resolve, no justification. Only resentment.”
“We… we…!!”
“And above all.”
My eyes flashed.
“You touched my domain.”
“…What?”
“Yang-ryeong is my land. Where my people live.”
My voice dropped lower.
“You scattered poison to kill my people. You opened the back gate to launch an ambush.”
Cold energy flowed from the blade.
“You tried to make Yang-ryeong your base without my permission. Cheon Lim, who was similar to you, joined hands with me and opened the Black Market. And there, he could conduct the experiments he so desired without limit. But you?”
“…”
“You justified everything thinking only of your own vengeance. If Yang-ryeong became your base for your revenge, then once everything is finished, you will become enemies of the Murim, and every region where you stayed and made your base will face investigation.”
“….”
“In that process, another war will unfold. Countless will die and kill, and as the one responsible for this land, I cannot dare make excuses—I will draw my sword and struggle, and my people will wield theirs as well. Yes, because of that ridiculous, indiscriminate cause you claim to achieve, such things will happen.”
“How much… do you know….”
I did not bother to answer.
“Revenge against the world? Do as you wish. I don’t care.”
Seol Woon-hwi spoke.
“But that path collided with mine. You touched my people. That is why I will kill you.”
Hyeol Mu retreated backward.
‘This bastard… is dangerous.’
Cheon Ui Jung-jeong Seol Woon-hwi, whom I had only heard rumors about, was an even more dangerous man in person.
This man follows neither Buddhism nor Daoism.
Naturally, he does not follow Confucianism either.
Yet he can utilize the enlightenment of all those paths and, paradoxically, walk all of them as well.
Because the path he himself walks
is a path that encompasses all three of those ways.
Seol Woon-hwi perceives the purity of one’s resolve.
If that purity is certain, he respects it, and when paths collide regardless of purity, he tests which side’s resolve is more solid.
A man more martial than anything, yet not inhuman.
Certainty took hold.
I must flee.
There was nothing more to consider.
It was at that moment I tried to push off from my seat.
Hyeol Mu saw it.
A rain of flames descending from the heavens.
“…Ah….”
Before that overwhelming Internal Energy, even one who had ascended to the Heaven-Human Realm could do nothing.
This could not be blocked nor evaded.
This was death.
And so.
Boom—!!
Hyeol Mu did nothing and departed from this world.
Behind him, his entire body turning to ash and scattering, No Cheon-myeong slowly rose from his seat.
“You bastard.”
“Yes, Senior.”
No Cheon-myeong, quietly observing Seol Woon-hwi’s response,
was genuinely troubled at this very moment.
Whether he should ask this question that had risen to the tip of his throat, or refrain.
After a brief breath, he asked.
“Was I not supposed to be here.”
“If that were the case, I would have asked you to step back.”
“…Given your nature, it wouldn’t be unreasonable, but that’s only if the person has nothing to do with you, isn’t it?”
I didn’t answer.
“I have gratitude and grudges with you, I am favorable toward you, and you are favorable toward me with debts to receive. Though not for long, having observed you quite carefully, I’ve found that you cherish those who enter within your fence terribly and grant them your trust.”
“That’s true.”
“You wouldn’t speak so harshly to such people.”
I laughed softly.
“I apologize. I should have mentioned it.”
“….”
“But it was a position where it didn’t matter. The truth is, I do trust you, Senior.”
“Huh… You’re turning this around. This is… if you’re someone who heard the entire conversation between you and that bastard who died over there, you would inevitably recall one thing.”
“Not everyone would.”
“Hmm?”
“It’s because you’re my Senior that you noticed.”
“….”
“If you have any questions, please ask. I’ll answer what I can.”
This conversation now.
And the conversation at Divine Ginseng Valley when we first met.
From No Cheon-myeong’s perspective, my knowledge was beyond imagination.
I knew more than ordinary people, and I toyed with those called geniuses even in the Murim.
Most notably, there was Zhuge Yeong-hyeon, the last descendant of the Jegal Family, and though far inferior to him, when I swallowed Yang-ryeong, I also toyed with the martial artists who dominated the surrounding areas.
Lee Ja-gyeom of Jeok An, Song Ui-gyeong of Noejeong Sword Gate, and Kang Cheon-u of the Four Heaven Alliance, who said Zhuge Yeong-hyeon’s schemes weren’t bad and joined the game.
And even the martial artists who raised their realm through great matches with me.
Most people don’t even think of regression. A genius among geniuses.
They would only think that a true genius who encompasses everyone has appeared.
But the conversation at Divine Ginseng Valley mentioned earlier.
That was too significant.
Fitting together a discontinued Incantation Formula?
No Cheon-myeong read an excessively seasoned master’s intuition there, and the knowledge based on that master’s experience.
That’s why.
“Are you a regressor?”
Such a question was possible.
To No Cheon-myeong, who was scratching his head, I answered.
“I’m a previous-lifer.”
“Previous-lifer (前生)? Or transmigrator (轉生)?”
“Previous-lifer (前生), but it is regression (回歸).”
“…Isn’t that just wordplay?”
“Just as you had a homework assignment to solve, Senior, I have one as well.”
“…There is a clear reason?”
“There is no phenomenon in this world that occurs without reason.”
“Hmm… Then in that previous life, whether it was regression or not, what were you like?”
“He passed away at the Heaven-Human Realm.”
“…And my disciple Pae Woon?”
“He took his own life beside you.”
“…Why?”
“You know the reason, don’t you?”
“…You truly did save me.”
“It was merely a small gesture.”
“How could that be a small gesture? You transformed my entire life.”
“What you needed at that time was a small gesture. How you measure the value of that small gesture is your freedom, and I too have the freedom to measure its worth. So I merely allowed you to take a few steps forward when you could not see beyond the wall before you.”
No Cheon-myeong read something different in these words.
“…Ah… So the answer I had been searching for all this time was something you could see clearly?”
“That interpretation seems rather cynical. Perhaps you could think of it more positively.”
“…Your realm was so elevated that you could see it so clearly?”
Seol Woon-hwi laughed softly.
“If my realm were not elevated, how could I have raised the realms of martial artists?”
No Cheon-myeong scratched his head.
“Where were you?”
“Primordial Sole Existence.”
“…I understand there are grades even within that realm.”
“The pinnacle.”
No Cheon-myeong let out a hollow laugh, as if at a loss for words.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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